Saved for the Nation:
New British Library Centre for Conservation

The new British Library Centre for Conservation provides a world-class facility for all aspects of book conservation including education and training, as well as state-of-the art technical facilities for the nation's Sound Archive, enabling unrivalled standards of care for the Library's priceless collections.

The 2,600 square metre Centre is a distinctive new building immediately to the north of the Library's existing building at St Pancras, London, in the middle of the block bounded by Ossulston Street on the west and Midland Road on the east. It is joined to the existing building by a terrace, providing a new public square on the St Pancras site.

The £13.25 million project began construction in August 2005 and was completed on January 17 2007. The programme of moving staff and equipment into the Centre for Conservation has been completed and opens to the public on 17 May 2007. The building has been designed by architects Long and Kentish, principal contractor Sir Robert McAlpine with engineering design by Arups, project management by Drivers Jonas and cost consultancy by Davis Langdon.

The Centre brings together, for the first time in the British Library's history, staff and facilities for all aspects of conserving books. These were previously dispersed across several London sites and separately dedicated to the care of particular types of collections. The new facilities enable the second occupant, the technical operations of the Sound Archive to provide archival-standard preservation-copying and professional re-mastering facilities for recorded sound items. The Library is now able to offer much-needed training opportunities for conservation professionals as well as allowing the visiting public access through tours of the studios, demonstrations and lectures.

The main entrance is through the existing Library building on the first floor, across the newly extended terrace, which has been designed specifically for public access. All visitors will enter into the Learning and Visitor Centre comprising a display area to provide them with an initial, interactive introduction to conservation, and an adjacent 6 0-seat capacity seminar room. There are four main studios at this level as well as ancillary purpose-built areas designed for specialised conservation techniques.

The upper ground floor houses meeting rooms, workshops with heavier machinery, an examination room and storage rooms as well as a marshalling area for outgoing loans from the Library.

The lower ground floor provides a range of sound studios for recording and transfer of Sound Archive material, as well training facilities, laboratory and workshop areas.

Helen Shenton, Head of Collection Care at the British Library said: "It is such a tremendous achievement to complete the construction and occupation of the new British Library Centre for Conservation on time and on budget. This marks the beginning of a new era for Conservation and for the Sound Archive".

Find out more about the British Library Centre for Conservation.

For further information contact Catriona Finlayson on +44 (0)20 7412 7115 mailto:Catriona.Finlayson@bl.uk

Notes to Editors

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest research libraries. It provides world class information services to the academic, business, research and scientific communities and offers unparalleled access to the world's largest and most comprehensive research collection. The Library's collection has developed over 250 years and exceeds 150 million separate items representing every age of written civilisation. It includes: books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, newspapers and sound recordings in all written and spoken languages. Further information is available on the Library's website at www.bl.uk.

The British Library Centre for Conservation has been made possible thanks to the generosity of a number of donors: Heritage Lottery Fund, The Wolfson Foundation, The Dorset Foundation, The Foyle Foundation, The Weston Family, Dr Naim Dangoor OBE and The Exilarch's Foundation, PACCAR Inc, The Friends of the British Library, The Clothworkers' Foundation, The American Trust for the British Library, The Annenberg Foundation, The P F Charitable Trust, The Headley Trust, The Mercers' Company, The BAND Trust, Bloomsbury Publishing plc, The Rayne Foundation, Sound Archive Trust and a number of other donors.

The Heritage Lottery Fund enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. From our great museums and historic buildings to local parks and countryside or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our nation's heritage for everyone to enjoy. We have awarded grants totalling £3.6 billion to more than 22,500 projects, including over £750 million in London alone.

Long & Kentish Architects The partnership was formed in 1994, but the experience of the partners goes back many years before , when they were with Colin St .John Wilson & Partners. MJ Long was born in the USA in 1939 and received her MArch from Yale in 1964. She has been resident in England since 1965, and worked with Colin St John Wilson from 1965 to 1996 (as a partner since 1974). She also ran a separate practice (MJ Long Architect) from 1974 to 1994. Rolfe Kentish was born in London in 1954 and received his MA and DipArch from Cambridge in 1980 and his UK registration in 1982. He worked with Colin St John Wilson from 1982 to 1996 (as an associate form 1989), and was an associate of MJ Long architect from 1990 to 1994.

Sir Robert McAlpine is a leading UK building and civil engineering contractor dedicated to achieving excellence in design and construction and is committed to the highest standards of both management and technical skills. This is complemented by a co-operative business culture which promotes and sustains long-term relationships with clients and members of our supply chains.

Arup is a global firm of designers, engineers and business consultants providing a diverse range of professional services to clients around the world. The firm is the creative force behind many of the world's most innovative and sustainable buildings, transport and civil engineering projects. Established 60 years ago, the firm exerts a significant influence on the built environment and has almost 9000 employees, based in 75 offices in 33 countries, working on up to 10,000 projects at any one time. Arup has three global business areas - buildings, infrastructure and consulting - and our multi-disciplinary approach means that any given project may involve people from any or all of the sectors or regions in which we operate. Our fundamental aim is to achieve excellence in all we do by bringing together the best professionals in the world to meet our clients' needs.

Drivers Jonas are a full service independent property consultancy employing over 600 staff across Europe with a turnover of £65m. The firm has offices in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Slough, Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow, and are specialists in project management with a dedicated culture and heritage sector team.